Session 1 - June 27 - July 9, 2010

Photos:
Mon, Day 1 - Today we stained onion root tips in order to learn about mitosis and to see the dividing cells in action. We also got our first introduction to micro-pipetting which will come in handy later on during many of the modules.

Tues, Day 2 - Today we had quite the busy day! The kids started with an art project, microbiology style. The students drew on MacConkey's agarose plates with lactose processing bacteria which will turn pink overnight in the incubator, keep an eye out for these photos tomorrow. They also made master plates of 50 colonies with auxotrophic and phototrophic bacteria which will be used tomorrow as well. We wrapped the day up with an introduction to fruit flies. The students learned how to handle the flies using CO2 and also learned how to tell the difference between male and female flies.

Wed, Day 3 Today we were able to view the bacterial artwork that we created yesterday. We also did some replica plating in order to figure out the percentage of our bacteria that could grow without supplying the essential nutrients. The student also got a nice view of the campus this afternoon. We walked over to the "Fishbowl" so the students could do some research for their Bionformatics projects.

Thur, Day 4 - Today we had a special guest lecture in the morning from Dr. David Burke from the department of Human Genetics here at UofM. Dr. Burke is a "mouse" geneticist and brought with him a pair of transgenic mice that glow green due to a GFP gene. In the afternoon we exposed yeast and ourselves to a little sunlight. We played frisbee while the yeast baked in the sun under the protection of either sunscreen or aluminum foil so that we can see how the UV rays affect the growth of the yeast. The day was rounded out with Genetic Pictionary with team science and team gua hak (science in Korean).

Fri, Day 5

Mon, Day 6 

Tues, Day 7  Today we collected gametes (sperm and eggs) from live Sand Dollars. We then mixed the two gametes hoping to be able to see fertilization. In the afternoon the kids extracted their own DNA from cheek cells (tomorrow we'll be performing PCR to amplify each students D1S80 VNTR markers.

Wed, Day 8 In the morning the students worked on their presentations which will occur on Friday at 9 AM. (Parents Welcome, Undergraduate Science Building Room 4151). While the students were working on the presentations, the PCR was running with the students DNA. So in the afternoon we were able to run a gel with the results. We ended the day by attempting to transform Bacteria with Green Fluorescent Protein.

Thur, Day 9 This morning Jim Zabowski, who is a cytogeneticist from Henry Ford, was kind enough to come lecture. After the talk the students put the finishing touches on their disease presentation and attended a lunch about admissions at UofM. In the afternoon we dissected chick embryos. Some of the students weren't sure about it as you see from some of the photos but it was extremely cool to see chicks who had been developing for 4 days and some for 10 days. 

Fri, Day 10

Course Description

Photos:
Mon, Day 1  We started off the week making artwork, Bacterial artwork that is! The kids used toothpicks spread Bacteria onto MacConkey's and EMB plates (keep an eye out for the resulting photos tomorrow). In the afternoon the students learned how to use a micropipettor and extracted DNA from Strawberries!

Tues, Day 2 The lab was filled with beautiful pink plates covered in even prettier neon green bacteria! Further the students learned how to identify different strains of Bacteria by using a technique known as replica plating. In the afternoon, the students learned how to handle Drosophila Melanogaster (aka fruit flies). They looked specifically at the eyes, wings and body in normal/wild type flies so that later in the week they would be able to spot flies with other phenotypes caused by mutations.

Wed, Day 3 

Thur, Day 4  Finally, the students were able to view the results of their replica plates to determine the types of bacteria growing. In the afternoon the kids took a trip outside so that we could expose plates of yeast to sunlight. Some of the yeast were protected with sunscreen and aluminum foil while others were not so that we could see the effects of UV rays on the growth.

Fri, Day 5

Mon, Day 6  Today we had a Guest Lecturer, Dr. Ken Cadigan who enlightened us about genetics in fruit flies. In the afternoon we walked over to his lab on campus and were able to talk to all of students about the research that they do. We ended the day by viewing our yeast plates from last week.

Tues, Day 7 Today we had another guest lecturer, Dr. David Burke, who brought his transgenic mice that glow green with GFP. He talked about the genetics of aging and the research that he does in the Human Genetics department.In the afternoon we got Sand Dollars in the mail. We then harvested gametes (eggs and sperm) and got to see fertilization in real time under the microscope!

 Wed, Day 8 Wednesday morning we took a look at the fertilized sand dollar eggs from the day before. We were able to see the gastrulation and cilia (check out the pics)! In the afternoon the kids extracted their own DNA from cheek cells (obtained by swabbing the inside of their mouths with toothpicks). Tomorrow we will run a PCR to amplify a specific VNTR repeat. We ended the day in the "fishbowl" where the students worked on their disease presentations.

Thur, Day 9  This morning we had another guest lecturer, Jim Zabawski, a cytogeneticist from Henry Ford in Detroit. He talked about karyotyping and chromosomal abnormalities in infants. In the afternoon, we ran out our PCR product on an electrophoresis gel and also got to dissect our 4 day and 10 day chick embryos. 

Fri, Day 10 Today we ended the camp with the students presenting their genetic conditions to the rest of the class. It's been a great two weeks! Good luck with all of your future endeavors campers!

Course Description